For UConn Men's Basketball, 2013 Is Academic Question Mark

The NCAA Board of Directors announced new rules for improving academic performance for college athletics.

As of now, the UConn men's basketball team is eligible for the 2012 NCAA Tournament, so the Huskies have a chance to defend their national title. But they would be ineligible for the 2013 tournament if rules announced Thursday remain in place. The rules, however, could change.

No changes go into effect for the upcoming season, but beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, a team will need an Academic Progress Rate of 900 for a four-year rolling average to be eligible. If a school is short of 900 in 2013, it could remain eligible if its two most recent APR scores average 930.

UConn's APR for 2009-2010 was 826 and its most recent four-year rolling average, released last May, was 893. UConn expects an APR of 975 for 2010-2011 when that figure is released in May. A 975 would bring UConn to 888.5 for a four-year rolling average, below the required 900. Plus, the two-year average would be 900.5, assuming UConn does indeed get the 975. That falls well below the 930.

For UConn to be eligible in 2012-13, the NCAA would have to change its method and timetable for collecting and releasing APR scores so that eligibility in 2013 is based on the scores from 2010-11 and 2011-12, instead of 2009-10 and 2010-11. That is being studied and will be discussed at the NCAA meetings in February. Scores would have to be revealed before May, as is now the case. Failing that, there also will be appeals.

"We're trying to see if we can't speed this up," University of Hartford President Walter Harrison told The Courant. "We think it would be better to have consequences tied to the year you most recently report it."

UConn president Dr. Susan Herbst, in a statement released late Thursday, reiterated her support for stronger academic requirements, but called on the NCAA to use the most recent APR scores in applying punishment.

"Students who have enjoyed academic success should not suffer because of the shortcomings of individuals who played in prior seasons," Herbst said. "It is my understanding the NCAA has already begun examining the fairest method for implementing the new rules and I encourage them to make the time frame between a violation and a punishment as short as possible."

Harrison, chairman of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance, said one problem is that some schools use semesters, some use tri-mesters, some use quarters, and registrars are tied up with other duties at certain times of the year.

"It takes time to collect this data," he said.

The Committee on Academic Progress has asked NCAA staffers to work with individual schools to determine the feasibility of having the information processed more quickly.

One plan is to have the APR scores announced twice a year, once in January, which would affect winter and spring sports, and once after the College World Series in June, affecting fall sports. In that scenario, a basketball team would learn of its tournament eligibility, or ineligibility, in the middle of the season, which is favorable to some. As it stands now, a team would know before a season began if it was ineligible for postseason play.

"We're trying to work through the logistics," Harrison said.

There will be "filters" and an appeal process for teams coming up short but, Harrison said, "we intend to be very, very strict with appeals."

On the whole, Harrison was pleased about his trip to Indianapolis.

"We will look back on today as an historic occasion," he said.

The APR rules have the most direct impact on UConn men's basketball, but the NCAA also announced changes that figure to impact college sports for years to come.

The standard for eligibility of incoming freshman will be raised from a 2.0 high school GPA to 2.3, and student-athletes must have passed 10 core courses by their seventh high school semester. For junior college transfers, a 2.5 GPA will be required and student-athletes can count only two physical education credits toward eligibility.

Athletes who fall short can be "academic redshirts" as freshmen, meaning they can practice with the team but can't play in games or travel.

"You will have your first year of college to concentrate on studies and prepare for success in college," Harrison said.

Conferences also will be given the option of allowing members to add $2,000 to athletes' scholarships to cover the costs of living.

"Conferences can decide to use conference revenue to cover these costs," NCAA President Mark Emmert said on a conference call.

Schools also will be allowed to offer multi-year scholarships, instead of the one-year renewable scholarship. Some lower-resource schools might prefer one-year scholarships. Once a multi-year scholarship is given, it cannot be revoked for athletic performance. There will also be new recruiting rules for men's basketball, allowing more contact between coaches and recruits after the sophomore year of high school, and changes to the calendar.

"These meetings [have produced] an aggressive and meaningful set of changes," Emmert said, "and put real meat behind the agenda we produced in August. Student-athletes need to be students who happen to be athletes, and not the other way around. Actions taken [Thursday] are an enormous step in that direction."